Sakura Report 2015 - Ranked Top in My Wanna-See-Again Sakura Spots Last Year, Roka Koushun-en Park was Beautiful This Year, Too!

Canon EOS 6D, Canon EF50mm F1.4 USM (50mm, f/2.2, 1/1000 sec, ISO-100)

I've finally arrived at the final destination of today's run!

Roka Koushun-en Park is located very close to Kibougaokachu Park, or rather, we can say that Kibougaokachu Park is located very close to Roka Koushun-en Park because Roka Koushun-en Park is quite famous for its rare type of Sakura.

Sakura Report 2015 - Best Kept Secret Park in Sakura Season - Kibougaokachu Park

Canon EOS 6D, Tamron SP 90mm F/2.8 Di MACRO 1：1 VC USD (90mm, f/6.3, 1/160 sec, ISO-100)

The name is Takato Kohigan Zakura, which was presented from Takato Town of Nagano Prefecture. It is said to have the deepest pink color among all the Sakura blossoms.

Canon EOS 6D, Canon EF50mm F1.4 USM (50mm, f/1.8, 1/2000 sec, ISO-100)

As I expected, Sakura trees are in full bloom and the ground under the branches was literally full of people. But to my surprise, I heard some people saying this park had almost twice or third times the number of visitors yesterday. As the weather forecast said that it would be rainy this afternoon, most people must have enjoyed Sakura blossoms yesterday.

Canon EOS 6D, Canon EF50mm F1.4 USM (50mm, f/2, 1/2000 sec, ISO-100)

The biggest feature of this Sakura is the volume of the blossoms. If you look at the whole tree, you must be amazed by the strong presence of the white mass of Sakura blossoms. In one hand, this feature is pretty effective in landscape photography.

Canon EOS 6D, Tamron SP 90mm F/2.8 Di MACRO 1：1 VC USD, Kenko DIGITAL TELEPLUS PRO300 2X DGX (180mm, f/8, 1/160 sec, ISO-400)

But on the other hand, I realized today that it is not that suited for macro photography because most of the blossoms are in the shade of other blossoms. It is dark. The subject is in the dark, and the background is also in the dark. It is quite difficult to distinguish between the subject and the background. Plus, the blossoms gather too densely.

My conclusion is that Takato Kohigan Zakura is not for macro photography but rather for landscape photography.

Canon EOS 6D, Sigma 12-24mm f/4.5-5.6 IIDG HSM (24mm, f/8, 1/250 sec, ISO-100)

By the way, Roka Koushun-en Park was ranked top in my wanna-see-again Sakura spots last year because of sea of this yellow color. You can check the last year's photo from the link, too. (My photography skill and writing skill were quite terrible, though)

Sakura at Roka Koushun-en Park

Canon EOS 6D, Tamron SP 70-200mm F/2.8 Di VC USD (85mm, f/8, 1/200 sec, ISO-100)

Although I know some other places where we can see Sakura trees and Canola flowers at the same time, this park has the largest volume of Canola flowers. Quite a few photographers were trying to capture the harmony of the white and yellow.